


Give Me All Your Poison

by Nhitori



Series: Hatoful Datefriend [2]
Category: Hatoful Kareshi | Hatoful Boyfriend
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, M/M, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-31
Updated: 2015-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-10 15:55:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5592319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nhitori/pseuds/Nhitori
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This can't possibly be good for either of them...</p><p>And yet, they'll never stop.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Give Me All Your Poison

Well, if there was one thing to be said for this ridiculous pursuit, it was that the post office certainly was warm.

As soon as Hitori had walked in, he’d thanked the employees profusely for continuing to work so hard, this late at night, on Christmas Eve. Maybe his words weren’t the clearest, but he tried his best to get his gratitude across, knowing that there was probably anywhere else they’d rather be right now. Even if they didn’t celebrate the holiday, nobody liked working when nobody else /was/, and Hitori knew full well how stressful jobs like this could be around this time of year to boot.

Of course, in expressing his gratitude, he said all of these things in one string without taking a single breath in between and being hardly comprehensible at all, because Hitori Uzune was drunk. This was an incredibly common occurrence, though, and he knew he wouldn’t get thrown out of anywhere unless he was being particularly disruptive, which he was not. As soon as he thanked the employees he became silent and went over to the corner where there was a desk for packaging things and set to work after unceremoniously spilling a pile of merchandise onto the surface.

Due to the time, of course, the post office did have wrapping paper for sale; he packaged up every item, then wrapped it. A book for Nageki, tarot cards for Kokoro, a fabric-flower making craft kit for Momo… all things that they would enjoy, things that the caretakers wouldn’t be getting for them. New clothes were always necessary and appreciated, of course, but Hitori always tried to get them something nice and interesting for Christmas. Nobody there was particularly religious in any way, but holidays were fun to celebrate regardless of their significance.

Of course… he’d done even worse this year than last year. Last year he’d been able to send the gifts off a few weeks ahead of time, but this year he encountered the issue that he just couldn’t afford the gifts he wanted to get for people until just now. He did need to conserve enough money to pack for the shipping, after all, and he’d been much less capable of doing his job recently…

But, that was his own fault anyway, wasn’t it? Back when he was in college, he’d managed to work himself into some sort of awful cycle. He bought alcohol, which made him feel bad for not sending the money he spent on it back to Heartful House, and feeling like shit just made him want to drink more… which wasn’t to say that he was never sober, no. When he’d gone home to visit Heartful House he actually hardly drank at all, but… as soon as he left he just felt even guiltier. Even now, it was the same. He was sure he could get himself out of the pit he found himself in if he just stopped spending money on booze, but… he didn’t.

When he /was/ sober enough, he actually had an outsourced accounting job; he and a number of other mathematicians had been hired to take on whatever busywork they were assigned and just get it done whenever they could, paid by the hour whenever they were working. So that degree was good for one thing, he guessed. He used the computers at the library to do it, but that was all he’d use the computers for. In the past, he could get away with breaking some rules and installing messengers on public computers, because he looked like a nice young man.

Now he was just a mess. Really disgusting, the type of person that would get kicked out of a place at the slightest sign of breaking a rule. He rarely got the chance to wash his hair or his clothing, and he wore far too many layers. The only thing separating him from any other drunken bum at this point was that he’d always cut his own hair; as long as he had scissors, he could still look mildly kempt, and given that there was no way he could grow a beard, if somebody happened to only see his face he might just look like a slightly underwashed person…

But, he was able to get his wrapping done, despiting feeling persistently awful about himself the entire time. Doing things for his siblings back at Heartful House was always something he enjoyed doing, but it still reminded him of the fact that he could be, should be doing /more/ than he was, ought to be and would be if he wasn’t sinking all of his money into sinking himself even further down…

If he worked more hours on his job, and if he didn’t spend so much on liquor, he could afford the rent on an apartment, have a fridge, be able to budget on food and have enough left over to continue what he’d done in college of sending money back to Heartful House to improve their quality of life… but as it stood, he was too drunk for more hours, and any potential rent money just went towards getting into that state.

If he hadn’t done that, then maybe his siblings would be getting their gifts on time… but as it was, he only had just enough money to pay for the packing supplies and basic shipping. They’d receive their gifts… within the /window/ of Christmas. Hell, that was better than nothing… he wasn’t sure how he’d live with himself if he managed to sink himself into such a rut that he couldn’t even send Christmas presents back home to his effective family. In all honesty, he probably just… wouldn’t.

“Would you like to purchase our one day shipping? The address you’re shipping to is nearby enough that it could be delivered tomorrow morning, at an extra charge,” The post office employee asked, and Hitori just shook his head.

“No, I’m afraid I can’t do that…” He muttered as he put his packages down then pulled out the money. Exact change, for the packaging and shipping he needed to purchase. He’d made sure, when buying himself a few drinks earlier that evening, to keep just enough money. The difference wasn’t enough to pay the upgrade to one-day or even expedited shipping, though. It wasn’t like he didn’t buy his alcohol /cheap/. He may be a piece of shit, but he wasn’t such a piece of shit that he’d go buying expensive things to fuel his shittiness.

“Hey, sir. Or… madam? I apologize, I really can’t tell,” Somebody said softly, tapping Hitori’s shoulder, and he turned, shrugging.

“Fuck, I can’t either,” He shook his head, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking up at the person who’d said this to him. Tall, it wasn’t strange for people to be taller than him, but this person’s height challenged that of his ex-roommate… Splendid, “What do you want?”

“Well, you wrapped those packages up nicely, so I’m guessing that they’re Christmas presents for somebody…” He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck and ignoring the degree of rudeness he’d received from Hitori, “And it seems pretty clear to me that if you could afford it, you’d be jumping at that one day shipping, so why don’t I go ahead and get it for you?”

“...Why would you do that?” He questioned, furrowing his brow to look at this person in scrutiny.

“Come on, can’t a guy just want to do a good deed? Seems like you could use the help, and it’s not like it’s a whole lot of money for somebody who’s well enough off,” He leaned forward and handed the postal worker a debit card before turning back to Hitori, “My name’s Sakazaki. Yuuya Sakazaki. What’s yours?”

“Hitori Uzune…” He muttered, turning away and grabbing one arm with the other.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you!” Yuuya turned to finish the transaction, then leaned down and stuck an arm around Hitori’s shoulders, leading him away from the counter while continuing the act he had already begun of talking his ear off, “And I think the perfect opportunity for the two of us to get to know each other a little bit better would be to discuss ourselves over a drink, don’t you?”

“Don’t people usually say that alcohol is the exact reason /not/ to be nice to homeless people…?” Hitori protested in confusion as it was all he could do to catch up with the person who was now dragging him along.

“Well, I don’t believe in such things! In my opinion, somebody who’s so down on their luck deserves to get a little bit drunk, I know I certainly couldn’t handle being in that position without some sort of distraction!” He was very enthusiastic, “In any case, you seem interesting! Let me tell you a bit about myself so that you’re obligated to return the favor… I’m twenty years old and originally from France, basically living entirely off a trust fund from my /beloved/ stepdouche, which is quite a bit of cash given that I’ve taken to paying for much less expensive housing than he expected of me. Also, I haven’t got a gender either, but he/him pronouns are perfectly suitable. How about you? What’s your story?”

“Well. Clearly you don’t understand the meaning of the word ‘privacy’...” Hitori groaned, “Well, to start with, I’m the same way when it comes to gender. Strangely enough. I’m twenty-seven, got a master’s degree in mathematics two years ago then promptly lost the job I had, and with it any financial security… I was sending presents home to my younger siblings,” He explained, leaving out details, of course, “I could technically go back there, but… it doesn’t get /that/ cold at night around here, and I can’t say I want them to know that I’m doing badly.”

“Mm, yeah, that’s a toughie!” Yuuya agreed, nodding, “I sure wouldn’t want my brother to see me like this, either! He already thinks that I’m good for nothing, if he found out I was using stepfather’s money on a mediocre apartment so I can spend the rest on frivolity, he might just finally take the step to disown me from our siblinghood!”

“Well. I’d say it’s some sort of weird coincidence that we met eachother, then, but I guess I’m drunk enough to be under the impression it’s some sort of fate… you sure you want to buy me a drink? Pretty sure some bars won’t even serve me in this state…”

“Ahah, well, that’s why we’re going to a bar that will definitely serve us! It’s called the stumble-in, it’s a bar for us already drunk people who’d get ourselves thrown out of anywhere else!” Yuuya laughed, jostling Hitori’s shoulder a bit, “I /may/ or may not have already gotten myself thrown out of somewhere tonight…”

“I never could have guessed. You seem pretty sober to me,” Hitori noted.

“That’s only because you’re actually talking to me! Chances are if you’d actually managed to shut me down back at the post office I would’ve started flirting with the employees, and then possibly the ceiling if I continued to get rejected. You see, mon amie, I’m what most people would call a /flirty/ drunk. Coupled with my habit of being referred to as a ‘flirt’ even when sober, well, let’s just say that a certain number of bad pick-up lines would get anybody deemed shitfaced and unfit to continue drinking…”

“I see…” Hitori nodded slowly, “What, do you think we’re going on a date now or something?”

“No, not exactly! Unless somebody explicitly tells me that they’re romantically interested in me, all of my flirting is purely platonic! Oh, and just so you know, my flirting is /never/ sexual in nature. Most I’d do with anyone is make out a bit!” He laughed again, then let go of Hitori’s shoulders and stood up straight, trusting that he’d probably continue walking with him now.

“Well, that’s very gentlepersonly of you,” Hitori nodded, shoving his hands into the pockets of the outermost coat that he wore, “The platonic flirting bit, I mean. You ace too?”

“Hm? Yeah! Look at that, you’re pretty well-versed in this sorta thing! And there’s another freaky similarity!” He grinned, crossing his arms, but then his smile faltered a bit, “Hey, hold on. What was that you said earlier, about it not getting too cold at night around here?”

“Well, it doesn’t. Which is convenient. It’s pretty cold out tonight, but not so cold that I’ll be in any danger…” Hitori shrugged.

“What, can’t you go to a shelter?”

“Nope,” He shook his head, “Too trans. They won’t let me in.”

“Well that’s just plain rude! Tell you what, how about you stay at my place tonight? You already know I won’t try anything, and I know that you won’t. We can just get a drink there, it’d probably be better than going to some other bar anyway…”

“How do you know I won’t steal from you? Or kill you in your sleep?” Hitori questioned.

“Wow, you sure are a downer! You like this when you’re sober too, Uzune?”

“I’m even worse when I’m sober. Of course, all I ever do when sober is accounting, so it’s not like there’s much opportunity to prove my lack of social prowess then…” He mumbled.

“Well in any case, I wouldn’t take you for the type to murder or steal!” Yuuya shrugged, “And if you do end up doing either of those things, well, I guess that I’ll pay the price! But, if I leave you out on your own, then you could get murdered, or worse! So I’m not gonna do that!”

“Why, because it goes against your code of ethics?”

“No, no, I wouldn’t claim that I’m a /good person/, but I like you!” Yuuya laughed, then stopped in his tracks and looked up, “Oh, this is my apartment building!” He gestured for Hitori to come along, this building being one of those that only required keys for individual apartments rather than having the front door locked as well. Hitori almost didn’t follow, but then shrugged and did.

Once getting up to the apartment, Yuuya went digging in the fridge and pulled out some sort of interesting beer that Hitori had never before seen or heard of. An interesting feat for somebody who’d only just hit the drinking age in Japan, but then, he did have all that trust fund money, so he could afford to experiment. He tossed a bottle over to Hitori and smirked a bit, “I know I didn’t ask your preference, but just try that.”

Hitori shrugged and pulled a bottle opener out of his pocket, because of course he carried one. He’d stolen it from a liquor store; it was just a little out of his price range, and besides. They were getting enough of his business with the actual intended product he purchased from that same store over the years. It was the only place in town that sold any cheap liquor, after all. This town was quite the strange one, consisting almost entirely of broke college kids and rich people. This apartment building was an item that catered to the prior group, though Yuuya didn’t seem to fall into either.

“You going to school?” Hitori questioned as he tried the drink, then squinted at it, unable to make out the writing in his fog, “This… is gingerale?”

“Nope, just living in this town because I thought it sounded interesting!” Yuuya shrugged, then laughed, “It’s alcoholic gingerale, actually! Kinda defeats the purpose of gingerale’s stomach-settling properties, don’t you think?”

“Well,” Hitori shook his head, “I’m in luck. I can’t say a drink or ten has ever made me throw up before… migraine headache, sure, but I can work through those. It’s certainly an enabler of the habit that I don’t get a nasty hangover in any sense of the word.”

“Wow, lucky bastard,” Yuuya chuckled, pulling one open for himself just with his hand. Well, good for him, “Then again, I can’t say I get headaches, though I do feel like shit in every other possible way… best cure for that is just to make sure you never get sober!”

“Hey,” Hitori started, setting the bottle down own the counter beside him, “Can you come over here?”

“Sure thing!” Yuuya nodded and walked over. His counters were rather high, so with Hitori sitting on one of them they were actually at eye level.

“I just figured I should thank you,” Hitori shrugged, then leaned forward and kissed Yuuya quickly.


End file.
